Headgear for protecting an athlete's head, particularly for use during contact sports, is known. For example, helmets are utilized in football to protect the football player. In addition, helmets are used to protect lacrosse players, hockey players, baseball players, paintball players, and others. Even athletes who are not engaged in contact sports wear protective headgear, including bicyclists and wrestlers. Because the helmet that is worn by a particular athlete must comfortably and adequately fit the head of the wearer in order to protect the athlete, it is known to provide padding in the helmet. The padding provides additional protection for the wearer but can also assist in providing a comfortable fit for the wearer. As such, the padding engages with a relatively large surface area of the wearer's head. It is desirable for the padding to engage with a large surface area of the wearer's head in order to provide for adequate support and fit of the wearer's head within the helmet.
It is also known to be able to adjust the thickness of the padding within the helmet to provide for a more comfortable fit for a particular wearer. Again, however, the padding still engages with a large surface area of the head and is formed and adjusted to provide for protection and fit of the entire head within the helmet. The adjustable padding merely enhances the fit of the wearer's entire head within the helmet.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,389,607 issued to Wood discloses one example of a protective sports helmet designed for use in football and other contact sports. The helmet is preferably injection molded from a single, shock absorbing, homogenous piece of foam. An insert plate can be positioned near the user's forehead at the top and forward portion of the helmet. The purpose of the insert plate is to simulate the hardness of the user's head for heading a ball. A soccer player wearing the helmet can head the ball without injury to the head and the brain as potentially encountered without protection. The soft shell also minimizes injuries to other parts of the body that are struck by the helmet. Additional external components such as metal or plastic inserts can be inset molded into the foam. The purpose of these inserts is to improve stability and allow for attachment of face guards and a chin strap.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,984,875 issued to Farquharson discloses a protective head gear designed for use in hockey. The protective head gear has a helmet adapted to cover major portions of the athlete's head other than his face, and the helmet includes a peripheral brow portion extending between symmetrically disposed temple portions at either side of the helmet. A mouth guard is included for attachment to the temple portions and is shaped to extend from these portions symmetrically across the athlete's mouth. An upper peripheral portion of the mouth guard is aligned generally with the peripheral brow portion for underlying a curved eye shield so that, on impact, the eye shield will be supported by one or more of these portions.
U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2008/0189821 discloses a protective mask of the kind having particular application for covering the eyes, ears, nose, and chin of one playing the game of paintball. The protective mask has a lens that can be quickly and easily removed for replacement as a consequence of paint splatter or cracking such as that caused by the impact by a paintball traveling at high speed. The protective mask also has a detachable head strap that is coupled to the lens through the mask. More particularly, a hole formed through an ear covering section of the mask is axially aligned with a hole formed through an ear covering section of the removable lens. One end of the detachable head strap is tied to a first connector. The first connector includes an upstanding locking catch that is moved into the axially aligned holes formed through the mask and the lens. A quick-release second connector has a rotatable latch that is responsive to a manual pushing force applied to the latch so as to move into interlocking mating engagement with the locking catch of the first connector. A lock is rotated from an unlocked position to a locked position to prevent the latch of the second connector from moving out of its mating engagement with the locking catch of the first connector. Accordingly, the first and second connectors will remain reliably connected together to prevent a separation of the removable lens and the detachable head strap from the protective mask.
In U.S. Pat. No. 6,289,522, Jones et al. disclose a wrestling headgear. The ear protector of the wrestling headgear includes an ear protection member and a variably adjustable support member disposed on an inner portion of the ear protection member. Jones et al. also disclose a method of defining an ear receiving cavity included in an ear protector of a wrestling headgear. The method includes configuring a variably adjustable support member, the variably adjustable support member disposed on an inner portion of an ear protection member.
Keen discloses, in U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2008/0010727, a lightweight wrestling headgear. The headgear includes a pair of ear coverings and at least three straps that are coupled between the pair of ear coverings to secure the headgear onto the head of a wrestler. The pair of ear coverings each includes a relatively soft inner cushion and a relatively hard outer shell portion. The relatively hard outer shell portions have a deeply cupped portion formed with a symmetrical pattern of curved protrusions which each extend outward from a central portion of the relatively hard outer shell portions.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,715,156 issued to Purnell discloses a reversible protective headgear for wrestlers and other athletes who require protective covers for their ears during practice and contests. The headgear provides shock absorbency and protection for the ears and forehead in an easily adjustable and comfortable device that is also reversible from a first color to a second color and meets the requirements of international wrestling rules as promulgated by the International Federation of Associated Wrestling Styles (FILA).
U.S. Pat. No. 6,782,558 issued to Keen, Sr., et al. discloses a lightweight wrestler headgear. The headgear has an inner soft plastic cushion for contact with the wearer and an outer hard shell having a plurality of swirling or sweeping curved protrusions intended to suggest the swirling clouds of a tornado. In the depressions or valleys between the swirls are a large number of vent holes that effectively remain uncovered for good hearing regardless of the activity during a wrestling match. The inner cushion and outer shell are peripherally shaped with concave outer edges between locations where straps are attached to the inner cushion and outer shell. The peripheral shapes and the protruding swirls allow the outer shell to be made exceptionally light and strong with little impairment of hearing.
Different injuries are more common in different sports. For example, injuries to the nose are common in lacrosse, while injuries to the ears are common in wrestling. Therefore, many devices are designed to protect specific parts of the head, such as the forehead, eyes, cheeks, jaw, chin, mouth, ears, or nose of a user without protecting substantially the remainder of the user's head.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,930,842, for example, Burruss discloses an ear protection device made of an insulating fabric that adjustably and releasably fastens to the retaining strap of an eye goggles unit. The device utilizes elastic to retain its lower edge proximate the head of the wearer under even severe conditions. The device is designed to protect the winter sports participant, such as a snowmobiler or skier, who experiences rapid movement in a sub-zero environment requiring protection of both the eyes and the ears.
In both U.S. Pat. No. 6,024,446 and No. 6,276,795, Hall et al. disclose protective eyewear for use in sports activities. The eyewear has particulate and liquid sealing around a frame containing a lens or lenses and has temples that provide adjustment of the eyewear to a pantoscopic angle. The eyewear is provided with an adjustable strap for better fit to the wearer's head. Included are a plurality of projections that define various pantoscopic angles. The temple end piece includes a set of recesses that engage the projections formed on the lens or frame; the temple end piece is rotated relative to the lens or frame to set the pantoscopic angle. The adjustable strap can be unbuckled for snap-locked attachment of the eyewear directly to other safety equipment such as noise-suppression ear muffs, communication head phones, breathing masks, and the like. A plurality of ventilation channels are disposed on the frame to provide indirect ventilation. The frame includes a skirt which is designed to prevent unwanted foreign matter, including liquids, from entering underneath the eyewear and making contact with the eyes of a user.
In U.S. Pat. No. 7,168,095, Wright characterizes current products on the market including, but not limited to, motorcycle helmets, snowboarding helmets, ski helmets, and the like, as meant to protect the entire head from falls or injury to the entire head and not used solely for front head and face protection. All are comprised of some type of hard material, are full-shelled helmets, are not compactable, and do not allow for efficient stowing and storage. These helmets are also heavy and are susceptible to mildew when used in wet environments and not dried or stored in dry environments (e.g., boats). Therefore, Wright discloses and claims a method of using a face protector only to protect the front of a user's head (i.e., forehead, face, eyes, cheeks, jaw, chin, mouth, and nose) from the elements associated with outdoor activities.
Head protection gear typically protects the entire head from falls, such as with a bike helmet, the eyes only, such as with protective goggles, or the ears and forehead, such as with wrestling headgear. Much of this gear is bulky and does not provide adequate protection to more than one or two areas of the head. In addition, the gear is often suited for just one or two sports and not useful for a variety of sporting activities.
Accordingly, there is a need for a sports protective device that may be worn to prevent injuries to the face, ears, and head and used during performance of a variety of sporting activities. There is also a need for a sports protective device that is comfortable and does not affect a user's performance of a sport.